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Saturday, December 27, 2008

The city of Cincinnati at one time, along with it's suburban neighbors, had one of the best streetcar systems in the nation. By the mid 1950's the streetcars disappeared from the city streets, as did the street car lines connecting suburban and urban communities such as Fairfield, Hamilton, Middletown and Dayton. Cincinnati is currently on the 'upswing.' Crime rates have dropped, the riverfront is in the process of being redeveloped and everywhere downtown new developments and renovation projects are taking place. Every night this holiday season hundreds upon thousands migrate from the suburbs to enjoy holiday festivities at Fountain Square. Downtown Cincinnati is currently moving forward with progress and getting better every day, why would anyone want to stop that? With so much to do downtown these days, how great would it be to only park once and ride a modern streetcar around town to all the activities? There is no doubt that Cincinnati would benefit from a modern streetcar system, and as the system grows into the future the surrounding suburban communities would benefit as well. However, the local SW Ohio Green Party, NAACP and Green Township trustees wish to create a petition in an attempt to not just stop the first phase of the streetcars from happening, but even go so far as to amend the city's charter to never allow streetcars or possibly any light rail to be built.

-Don't let the local NAACP, Green Party and Greene Township stand in the way of light rail, economic development and improved transportation for the Tri-State! (Image courtesy of: www.cincystreetcar.com)

I encourage everyone to check out my friend Randy Simes blog: Urban Cincy. In his latest post he sheds light on the opposition these three organizations intend to bring against the street cars. If you can, please take the time to visit his site and send a short email to these organizations, don't let them stand in the way of increasing progress and increasing economic prosperity of the city of Cincinnati and it's surrounding areas!

In other cities, building a streetcar line has been an effective way to increase investment and development in their urban cores.

Portland has seen $2.8 billion in added value to the city. Tampa’s streetcar line stimulated $1.1 billion of development. Little Rock’s route brought $700 million into the city. Even Kenosha, Wisconsin, a metro area with1.9 million fewer residents than Cincinnati’s metro, has seen $175 million in added value along their streetcar line

The above statement and other facts about why the streetcar should be supported can be found by visiting www.cincystreetcar.com.

I don't know if the entire Green Party is opposed to this project. I actually would assume that they are not. But one of their endorsed candidates is. Justin Jeffre runs for City Council regularly and is a vocal advocate for his particular interests.